Album Review Bundle: April 2005
1/5
By: Clara Burtenshaw
Do Me Bad Things - 'Yes!' (Atlantic) (**)
On paper, Do Me Bad Things sound like a band who can't fail. Comprising the formidable vocal prowess of a black female singer contrasted against the voice of a very pretty boy with transvestite tendencies and a seven-piece band to back them up it is evident from the outset that Do Me Bad Things are the type of group that simply beg to have adjectives such as 'diverse' and 'eclectic' thrown at them. This is an ambitious beast, mixing up eighties beats, AC/DC guitar, R'n'B and multifaceted melodies and attempting to rewrite the musical norm in six minutes apiece. Unfortunately, as much as the label, an open mind and the hype this band has received will try to justify the noise, in real life, it doesn't work, and sounds like a band desperate to cover the sort of terrain made mainstream by the Scissor Sisters with the notoriety reserved for bands such as The Darkness. 'What's Hideous' remains a tune, though.
The Features - 'Exhibit A' (Temptation Records) (*****)
Superb (promo) packaging transforms this LP from a CD to real-life exhibit (it's delivered in a quasi-specimen bag), and it suitably deserves to be identified from the rest for its twelve tracks of pop guitar perfection, ridiculously catchy summer hits and what is sure to be another crossing over from underground to mainstream success.
Replete with mandatory synths, distinctively wistful vocals and even a smattering of hoe-down style rock this album is a winner on all counts. Features, we sentence you to five stars.
The National - 'Alligator' (Beggars Banquet) (***)
Third LP from the five New York-based friends via Ohio which begins pleasantly enough, lulling you into safe M.O.D territory before 'Lit Up' comes on wearing those New York rock credentials on its sleeve - tours with The Walkmen and polished sound courtesy of the producers of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Interpol, speeding up the direction and pace of the album instantly. Peculiar, and - at times - both warm and awkwardly angular, take a chance on The National.
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